Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Language: Old English
Origin: iecan, ecan 'to increase'

eke

 verb
     
eke

eke something ↔ out

phrasal verb
1

eke out a living/existence

to manage to live with very little money or food:
They eke out a miserable existence in cardboard shacks.
2 to make a small supply of something such as food or money last longer by carefully using small amounts of it:
How did she manage to eke out the food?
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary